"I'm an event planner." I take a big sip of my drink, hoping it'll calm my nerves. This guy makes me nervous. Maybe it's his confidence. Being a small town girl in a big city has eroded my confidence. People always make jokes when I tell them I'm from Kansas, implying I'm too nice or too naive to survive in the city. I'm working on being more confident but I'm not there yet and being around highly confident people makes my insecurities come out. "I work for a small company that does a lot of private events, mostly corporate."
"So not weddings."
"We do weddings, but that's not our speciality." I wonder why he asked about weddings. Is he getting married soon? "We do a lot of work for small investment firms. Private parties, dinners, new client events. We have a banquet coming up and my boss is completely stressed about it. I just spent two hours on the phone with her."
"What about your friend? Weren't you meeting someone here?"
"How'd you know that?"
"I heard you telling Tom about it."
I nod. "Macie. My friend from back home. She's not coming. Her plane was delayed and by the time she gets here I'll have to leave so we decided to try it another time."
"So girl weekend, singular?" He gives me that smile that makes my pulse race. I'm big on smiles. A guy with a good smile does things to me.
"I might just head home in the morning."
"Why don't you stay?" He turns toward me. "It's beautiful up here and the weather's perfect. Tom told me about some hiking trails. I'm going to check them out tomorrow morning if you're interested."
"I'm not much of a hiker."
"You walk, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Hiking is just a fancy word for walking. C'mon, it'll be good to get out and get some fresh air before we head back to the city."
"I'll think about it," I say, not having any intention of hiking with him. I don't even know the guy. I'm not going out in the woods alone with him.
"Want another?" Charlie asks, pointing to my empty glass. I didn't even realized I'd finished it, but I do feel more relaxed.
"Maybe one more."
"Put it on my tab," Aiden says. "The first one too."
"I can pay for it," I tell him. "You shouldn't be putting my drinks on your company card."
"It's a business expense." He swirls his bourbon in the glass, which for some reason is sexy. I think it's the way he does it, the way he holds the glass and gently swirls the liquid around.
"How is this a business expense?"
"I'm interviewing you to be our event planner."
"For what? Your company?"
"The one I work for. We do a lot of events, mostly for our investors."
"You work for an investment firm?"
"Property investment. We buy old buildings and restore them. I hate seeing good architecture from the past being torn down."
"I love old buildings," I say, suddenly liking this guy more, now that I know he's not just another rich guy trying to get richer. I'm sure that's part of his reason for doing what he does but he's also doing something good. "Sometimes I just walk around the city, looking at all the old buildings."
"I do that too," he says, sounding surprised we have that in common.
"Another Manhattan," Charlie says, replacing my empty glass with a full one. "Another bourbon?" he asks Aiden.
"Please."
Charlie goes to get it.
"So where are you from?" Aiden asks.
"What do you mean," I ask, feigning surprise. "You don't think I'm from New York?"
He chuckles. "You're far too friendly to be a native."
I smile. "I'll take that as a compliment. But I actually AM from Manhattan, just not the one in New York."
Aiden waits for me to explain.
"I'm from Manhattan, Kansas. It's a small college town. I liked growing up there but I always dreamed of going to the other Manhattan so when I heard about this job opportunity, I took it."
"And how do you like it?"
"The job isn't great but I'm learning a lot."
"I meant the city."
"Oh, it's good. I mean, it's not what I imagined. I only knew what I saw in movies and on TV. When I actually got to New York, I realized how much money it takes just to survive there. I'm basically living in a closet. Like literally, my mom's walk-in closet back home is about the same size of my apartment."
He nods. "Been there. Luckily, my job pays well so I've been able to afford a bigger place but yeah,